Susilo wants swift probe into bird flu-linked deaths
The Jakarta Post Jakarta
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari on Sunday to determine as soon as possible whether the recent deaths of three people in Tangerang, Banten, were caused by the bird flu virus.
Siti said last Friday her office had sent specimens to a Hong Kong laboratory to determine whether the deaths of a father and his two daughters were due to the virus. The results would take at least seven days to process, she said.
"We should not just wait for the test results. We should pick up the ball (and ask for the test outcome earlier)," Susilo said after joining a friendly volleyball game against Army Strategic and Reserve Command (Kostrad) soldiers in Jakarta on Sunday.
The President said he had asked Siti to give him a full explanation about the cause of the deaths within the next two days.
Susilo said he wanted the government to be transparent and efficient in how it handled the case.
His comments came after one poultry worker in South Sulawesi officially tested positive with the bird flu virus last month, the country's first confirmed bird flu victim. However, the man has recovered and has shown no further symptoms of the illness.
Iwan Siswara Rapei, 38 and daughters Sabrina Nurul Aisyah, 9, and Thalita Nurul Azizah, residents of Tangerang, all died from a mysterious illness during the past two weeks.
The victims are not known to have had any contact with sick birds within the past four months, according to the health ministry. The ministry has also said initial tests for the virus had been negative. If the victims are found to have contracted avian flu, health officials fear it could be the first human-to- human transmission of the highly contagious virus.
"There must be certainty in the case... Nothing should be covered up," said the President as quoted by Antara. "This is an era of transparency. What is important is that the government do all it can to prevent (disease) as early as possible."
The ministry has put more than 300 people who have had contact with the three victims under observation, saying that none of them had so far displayed any signs of bird-flu infections, such as fever and respiratory problems.
The President also appealed to people not to be overly worried about the dangers of bird flu. However, he also asked people to report the spread of any infectious diseases to health authorities as soon as possible.
Siti visited on Sunday the Villa Melati Mas complex where the three deceased lived to talk with local residents in an effort to allay fears about the cases.
She said the government had taken anticipatory measures to treat and prevent any possible spread of avian influenza. They included providing 44 hospitals across the country with the necessary support facilities to treat bird flu-related diseases and SARS.
A special command post had also been established at the directorate general of disease control and environmental health agency in Central Jakarta, she said.
The H5N1 strain of the virus is known to have killed 38 Vietnamese, 12 Thais and four Cambodians since 2003.
Last year, millions of poultry died in a bird flu outbreak in Indonesia .